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Italian Macaroni Pie

A baked dish of macaroni, sliced beef or mutton, onions, tomatoes, breadcrumbs, cheese, and stock.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Beef and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,092 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Italian Macaroni Pie

Oven, in the book's wordsA hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Cut the beef or mutton into thin slices.

  2. Peel and slice the onion thinly.

  3. Slice the tomatoes.

  4. Boil the macaroni in slightly salted water until tender, then cool and drain.

  5. Cut the macaroni into small pieces.

Assemble

  1. Line a buttered baking dish with macaroni.

  2. Layer the meat, onion, and tomato slices in the baking dish.

  3. Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg.

  4. Pour a little stock over the layers and cover with macaroni.

  5. Sprinkle breadcrumbs and grated cheese on top.

Bake

  1. Bake for about 20 minutes at 400°F (200°C).

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,092 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Pepper + nutmegtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together13,015 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,923 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Beef + tomatotop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,448 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Onion + tomatotop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,633 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Beef or mutton
Provides the savoury meat layer that gives the pie its substance and flavour.
Macaroni
Forms the starchy base and top layers that hold the pie together when cooked.
Tomatoes
Adds moisture and acidity that brightens the flavour of the meat layers.
Onion
Contributes aroma and mild sweetness as it softens during baking.
Grated cheese
Melts and browns on top, adding richness and a golden crust.

Swap the nutmeg

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, onion, tomato, cheese, pepper):

  1. Garlicfits better
  2. Thymefits better
  3. Cuminfits better
  4. Nutmegthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, onion, tomato, cheese, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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